Friday News And Views

 Triple D 2025:

The long running Winter endurance race, Triple D, will happen again this coming January 18th in Dubuque, Iowa. The event has a running and fat biking component. Fat bike riders can choose from three distances. There is the full-course 70 mile, the half-distance 35, and the non-timed fun ride with a 17 mile distance which also is a "poker ride" adding to the fun factor. 

Runners can sign up for a 50K Ultra-Marathon, a full or half Marathon distances, and there is a fun "stroll", which is a walking distance of 5K. (You can run it as well)

Registration is open now HERE. 

Stan's Collab With Swiss Daysaver Tool Results In Incredible DART:

Stan's released their newest DART tubeless repair kit in collaboration with Swiss tool maker Daysaver. Called the "Incredible DART", this tool hides a DART plug readied to go at the twist of the black portion of the tool. This releases the DART like a switchblade knife and you can get to plugging that leak more quickly.

The Incredible DART also can be configured to reside inside your handle bar end with a kit offered by Stan's at an extra cost. The Incredible DART is made from aluminum and also houses three extra DART plugs which come with the purchase price of $72.00 USD. 

Comments: That's not cheap, but I can see this if you are a racer with seconds burning up as you pull over for a repair with this DART tool. You would be ready at a moments notice to use the DART and get back on the course with less downtime. But other than that, yeah... A standard DART tool is $25.00 for comparison. 

I have to admit to having several tubeless repair kits and never having had to use one. Not in the seventeen years I've been running bicycle tires tubeless all over the Mid-West, so maybe this is all lost on me. If you've had experiences with one of these tools, let me know in the comments.

Image courtesy of Lapierre Bikes

Does The New Lapierre Pulsium Show Gravel Bike Influence?

I received a press release this past week concerning Lapierre's new endurance/ultra-distance road bike, the Pulsium. It is a very interesting bike from the standpoint of a gravel cyclist. 

While it is a road bike, the Lapierre Pulsium is rated for 38mm tires with fenders, which indicates to me that this may as well be representative of what we were looking at for gravel bikes five to seven years ago. At least from a tire clearance perspective. 

But looking at other aspects of this design, it becomes apparent that cues from the gravel cycling world are being heeded in today's road cycling marketplace. Things like flared drop bars (10° on this bike) and the unique seat stay design that Lapierre calls "3D Tubular". The stays pass the seat tube, are not connected to it, but terminate at a point at the top tube ahead of the seat tube. These stays are arched slightly to allow for a spring-like movement which translates to better rider comfort over lower frequency bumps, according to Lapierre's press release.

Image courtesy of Lapierre Bikes

This sort of design idea (flexing seat stays) has been utilized by several gravel bikes, but none more famous, perhaps, than Salsa Cycles Class 5 VRS stays. So, wider tires, flex stays, and flared drop bars? Seems pretty "gravel-ish" to me. While this is only one bike, other companies have been bringing in classic design cues from gravel into their road lines also. It makes perfect sense since "gravel" is the category which has captivated the buying public now for several years. 

This also makes sense for how I, and others, envisioned this "all-road" idea to be back in the late 2000's. That was a time when you were lucky to get a road bike with 25mm tire clearances, and the geometry, even for entry level road bikes, was the same for those Pro level bikes meant for super-fit, athletic builds. While there is always a place for such a bicycle, most people could use more of an all-roads approach which would be versatile, utilitarian, and have lightweight, durable, long lasting design for frames, forks, and components. 

Just to be clear, I don't think we are seeing the ultimate vision for this sort of all-roads bicycle yet. But we are a lot closer than we were in 2008. 

Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #61:

In case you missed it, here is the link to last week's podcast, Episode #61.  But what I really need to have your help with is for our next episode. 

We are going to talk about tubeless tire sealants. What works, what does not work, failures and successes. We plan on having 'shiggy' back again who will have his perspective from a drier, warmer climate versus ours which comes from a wetter, and colder (in Winter) perspective. Obviously local conditions will help us out as well to give the listener more varied experiences and opinions. 

What I want to know is what you, the reader here, thinks is a good topic to cover regarding sealants for tubeless tires. What would you like to know? Do you have any experiences that are unique, frustrating, or noteworthy for their success? 

Let me know in the comments, or email me at g.ted.productions@gmail.com. 

Should This "Pipedream" Become Reality?

Trek showed this bike, dubbed the "Pipedream", on their social media on Wednesday. The text that went along with it read:

"Meet PipeDream: a Trek prototype by Kyle Neuser with a steel main frame and Top Fuel rear stays for classic strength and modern performance. Exposed cable routing, bolt-on shock mounts, and retro-inspired paint—built for today’s trails."

Comments: Asking readers, "Should we make this?", I think the answer may already be in play. Typically you don't see stuff like this unless there is a marketing plan in place to sell it. 

I also have to admit that when I saw this I had a double-take because, well.....Trek. This company doesn't typically float prototype ideas and, if I recall correctly, they really haven't done anything like that since the 2000's. But I like this, and if it were to be sold looking like this, or similarly, with minimal badging? I'd be a fan. Would I buy one? 

Well, "pipe dreams" sometimes do come true, but I would be willing to bet that this bike would be somewhere between 5k and 10k and that's simply far above a price I'd pay to have a part-time usage bike in my stable. Granted, I am not the core customer for a bicycle like this, but it is refreshing to see Trek have a take on the typically British idea of a full-suspension trail bike with a steel main frame.

Redshift Sports Arclight Pedals Back: 

Erik from Redshift recently let me know that Redshift Sports recently had restocked on Arclight Pedals. I guess that they had been out of stock for some time. 

I did a review of the Arclight Pro pedals which you can access HERE. Check that out if you want, but I will say now that if you ride in a city at night, these pedals will definitely increase your safety and make you more noticeable to other vehicle operators. 

Besides that, who doesn't like being part of a rolling light show? That's the fun part of these pedals and I always smile when I see people craning their necks to try and figure out "what I am" while riding with these pedals.

That's a wrap for this week! Get out and ride those bicycles!

Let's Talk About Geometry Again

Diagram showing what "trail" is on a bicycle

With the brief return of Winter here in Iowa and elsewhere in the Mid-West, there wasn't much riding being done. So, what better time is there to grab a hot cup of coffee or tea and ruminate on the finer details of bicycle design? 

So, with that said, here are some reasons for this post today to start out with. I have written a LOT about bicycle geometry in the past, specifically concerning geometry for gravel road/rough road riding. This all came out of a research I did in the late 2000's into what older ideas were for road bikes in terms of geometry. Scouring the internet for old ideas led me to thinking more critically about what would make my perfect gravel bike. Which leads me to....

This originally was all about what "I" wanted. I was not ever thinking about these geometry ideas for anyone else other than myself and a potential custom designed gravel going bike. Context: At the time I was using a Surly Karate Monkey as my main gravel bike. I knew it could be refined and made better to do what it was that I was falling in love with doing, namely "gravel grinding". Of course, there were others doing this as well, but at that time there were no options specifically designed for gravel, and the hope that there ever would be was not high. In fact, there may have been no notion at all that the cycling industry would ever take notice and do for us what they have done. So, keeping in mind that this was concerning my take for myself, and that any ideas that this "gravel thing" would take root were not very hopeful, I came up with a refined idea for what I thought would make a good gravel bike design on my own. 

The Raleigh Tamland Two ended up being the bike I would have designed.

Briefly I will then just say that due to a set of circumstances beginning in 2012 things turned out so that my design didn't have to be custom made. It ended up being (mostly) realized in the production of the 2014 Raleigh Tamland Two bike, which I then purchased. 

While it is true that the Tamland fit the mold of what I was after in a gravel bike, it was still based upon "my ideal" and not necessarily what a lot of other folks would think was, or would think of in the future as, "Gravel Bike Geometry". 

Much to my surprise then, the "gravel bike", as we have come to know it now, is pretty much an approximation of these ideas I put together back in the early "twenty-teens". Sure, there are variants, but the meat of what is used as geometry now for these bikes is pretty much based upon the same ideas I found back then. Note- I did not say, or ever would say "I invented gravel bike geometry". That would be preposterous. So, let's not be confused. I mined history for ideas that others came up with and by coincidence or influence, I do not know which, the cycling industry did a similar thing as well.

Now, on to something recent that appeared on social media that is relevant to this discussion....

Courtesy of Steve Garro's Facebook page

The above image, courtesy of Steve Garro's Facebook page, (he of Coconino Cycles), shows a page from a 1946 edition of "Bicycling" discussing the geometry and technical features of a frame from a "Willie Honeman", who was a three-time National Champion track cyclist and, apparently, he dabbled in frame making in the 1940's. This design being discussed is one that Mr. Honeman would have ridden on the board tracks in the late 1920's and early 1930's, but aparently was still relevant in the 40's as well.

You'll note, amongst other things, the odd nomenclature for frame parts, but what I wanted to draw our attention to was the geometry. This bike is what could be considered prototypical gravel bike geometry. Note- This is a board track bike design! In the notes on the frame, you'll see a recommendation for a slacker head tube angle for "a Road Machine to absorb some of the vibrations caused by bumpy roads." That angle range being listed as "20 or 22 degrees", which may be confusing until you realize that this is looking at the angle from 90° perpendicular to the ground to the centerline of the steer tube. The vertical line being "zero" degrees and adding degrees until you get to the steer tube angle. Reading it as we do now this would be 70° - 68°! 

A deep bottom bracket drop is also specified (Hangar drop) which turns out to be approximately 75mm. The chain stay is specified at 17" which is a bit more than 431mm. So, as I looked at this, I realized that these numbers, besides the surprisingly slack head angles recommended, were right in the same pocket I was thinking about back in 2010. 

Of course, one could argue that materials technology was part of the reason for those odd geometry numbers.  Also, you might say that this is a hold-over from earlier thoughts on rough road riding and track bikes, but here I'd have to think that while traditions may have been part of these choices, I would also assume that they did actually work in real-world applications. If they didn't, well one could assume that we'd have never heard about bikes like this. 

My main purpose here is to show that these ideas we are plumbing for gravel bikes today have deeper roots than we may have thought. This particular design offered by Mr. Honeman being but one example. 

I hope you find this as interesting as I did. I think it is fascinating to see that many ideas we have now have their roots in the past. We only refine them minutely and when materials technologies allow for things to actually be made that were designed and thought of back in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Let's Talk About Geometry Again

Diagram showing what "trail" is on a bicycle

With the brief return of Winter here in Iowa and elsewhere in the Mid-West, there wasn't much riding being done. So, what better time is there to grab a hot cup of coffee or tea and ruminate on the finer details of bicycle design? 

So, with that said, here are some reasons for this post today to start out with. I have written a LOT about bicycle geometry in the past, specifically concerning geometry for gravel road/rough road riding. This all came out of a research I did in the late 2000's into what older ideas were for road bikes in terms of geometry. Scouring the internet for old ideas led me to thinking more critically about what would make my perfect gravel bike. Which leads me to....

This originally was all about what "I" wanted. I was not ever thinking about these geometry ideas for anyone else other than myself and a potential custom designed gravel going bike. Context: At the time I was using a Surly Karate Monkey as my main gravel bike. I knew it could be refined and made better to do what it was that I was falling in love with doing, namely "gravel grinding". Of course, there were others doing this as well, but at that time there were no options specifically designed for gravel, and the hope that there ever would be was not high. In fact, there may have been no notion at all that the cycling industry would ever take notice and do for us what they have done. So, keeping in mind that this was concerning my take for myself, and that any ideas that this "gravel thing" would take root were not very hopeful, I came up with a refined idea for what I thought would make a good gravel bike design on my own. 

The Raleigh Tamland Two ended up being the bike I would have designed.

Briefly I will then just say that due to a set of circumstances beginning in 2012 things turned out so that my design didn't have to be custom made. It ended up being (mostly) realized in the production of the 2014 Raleigh Tamland Two bike, which I then purchased. 

While it is true that the Tamland fit the mold of what I was after in a gravel bike, it was still based upon "my ideal" and not necessarily what a lot of other folks would think was, or would think of in the future as, "Gravel Bike Geometry". 

Much to my surprise then, the "gravel bike", as we have come to know it now, is pretty much an approximation of these ideas I put together back in the early "twenty-teens". Sure, there are variants, but the meat of what is used as geometry now for these bikes is pretty much based upon the same ideas I found back then. Note- I did not say, or ever would say "I invented gravel bike geometry". That would be preposterous. So, let's not be confused. I mined history for ideas that others came up with and by coincidence or influence, I do not know which, the cycling industry did a similar thing as well.

Now, on to something recent that appeared on social media that is relevant to this discussion....

Courtesy of Steve Garro's Facebook page

The above image, courtesy of Steve Garro's Facebook page, (he of Coconino Cycles), shows a page from a 1946 edition of "Bicycling" discussing the geometry and technical features of a frame from a "Willie Honeman", who was a three-time National Champion track cyclist and, apparently, he dabbled in frame making in the 1940's. This design being discussed is one that Mr. Honeman would have ridden on the board tracks in the late 1920's and early 1930's, but aparently was still relevant in the 40's as well.

You'll note, amongst other things, the odd nomenclature for frame parts, but what I wanted to draw our attention to was the geometry. This bike is what could be considered prototypical gravel bike geometry. Note- This is a board track bike design! In the notes on the frame, you'll see a recommendation for a slacker head tube angle for "a Road Machine to absorb some of the vibrations caused by bumpy roads." That angle range being listed as "20 or 22 degrees", which may be confusing until you realize that this is looking at the angle from 90° perpendicular to the ground to the centerline of the steer tube. The vertical line being "zero" degrees and adding degrees until you get to the steer tube angle. Reading it as we do now this would be 70° - 68°! 

A deep bottom bracket drop is also specified (Hangar drop) which turns out to be approximately 75mm. The chain stay is specified at 17" which is a bit more than 431mm. So, as I looked at this, I realized that these numbers, besides the surprisingly slack head angles recommended, were right in the same pocket I was thinking about back in 2010. 

Of course, one could argue that materials technology was part of the reason for those odd geometry numbers.  Also, you might say that this is a hold-over from earlier thoughts on rough road riding and track bikes, but here I'd have to think that while traditions may have been part of these choices, I would also assume that they did actually work in real-world applications. If they didn't, well one could assume that we'd have never heard about bikes like this. 

My main purpose here is to show that these ideas we are plumbing for gravel bikes today have deeper roots than we may have thought. This particular design offered by Mr. Honeman being but one example. 

I hope you find this as interesting as I did. I think it is fascinating to see that many ideas we have now have their roots in the past. We only refine them minutely and when materials technologies allow for things to actually be made that were designed and thought of back in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Friday News And Views

 The Ships Are Coming In:

I have mentioned before in this space that when the inventory hit the warehouses that we'd go from zero to overstocked in a big hurry. Well, it has started already. 

I have seen several sales promotions recently within the last two weeks, and I bet there will be many more on the heels of this starting now. (Ditto for other segments in the economy)

The image here is all taken from promotions I have seen online. 15% - 30% off is not uncommon to see, and I suspect that deals will be available throughout the Winter as bicycle season wanes in this hemisphere. The big question is, "Will there be any takers?" Inflation is eating up discretionary income at an alarming pace. Given that utilities and necessities to make it through Winter will likely be somewhat of a burden on many, I would be surprised if sales were anything but tepid. 

But I could be proven wrong there. Time will tell all.......

Apologies for making you read upside down!

New WTB Vulpine 700 X 40mm Tires;

 I guess no one noticed that the tire I used to demonstrate the tubeless mounting techniques I posted earlier this week was a new WTB Vulpine 700 X 40mm tire*. Well, I guess I slipped that one by y'all right out in the open! 

Anyway, yeah..... New tire day again and I always am excited to see how tires will turn out once they are mounted. The anticipation of the process, the outcome once I am done, and then that first ride. Good stuff! 

But I have to say that I was a bit deflated, (sorry for that pun!), by the tire as it was evident to me at the onset that the casing didn't look like a 40mm casing. It's funny when your mind and eyes can hone in on details after you've done something so many times. I just knew this tire would be a bit narrow, and once I had it on, (at 40psi, by the way), I was saddened to find that my suspicions were correct. This wasn't a 40mm tire. 

Now with a few days under the tires and a couple of short rides, one tire measures just shy of 40mm and the other just shy of 39mm. Ehhhh!  Yeah, close, but not quite. Quibbling over a millimeter? Yes. And what is more, the promise was 40mm. And maybe these will get there. We'll see. 

At least they are fast, supple, and smooth. I liked the 36mm Vulpines, and these should be a bit better. Still, I'd love a wider one of these. (*Standard Disclaimer)   

The new Litespeed Ultimate G2 frame Image courtesy of Litespeed

Excuse Me- GT Bikes Would Like To Have  A Word With You:

Litespeed made a splash this week with the introduction of a titanium ('natch!) frame which they dubbed the "Ultimate G2". A new platform which they claim is "..a bike that accelerated and climbed with the targeted stiffness found in premium carbon gravel bikes.."

Whoa! Big claim there. So what did they do? Well, Litespeed says that; "It starts with the new visual signature of the Ultimate G2: Interlock Dropped Seatstays." What's that mean? Well, just think of GT Bikes' "Triple Triangle" design and you'll be there. That's really all this is. Also- I am not claiming GT developed the design first. I realize that others did a similar thing as well previous to GT Bikes. That said, it was GT that made hay with this and put the design on the map.

Look familiar? Image courtesy of Litespeed

Comments: So, how does a triple triangle thing make a bike stiffer? It effectively shortens the top tube and seat tube, thereby making those lengths of tubing less flexible than they would have been. 

This should make the rider 'feel' faster because the tubing will be less effective at absorbing vibrations than it would have been without the triple triangle deal, and let's face it- what a rider feels has a lot more to do with 'speed' than the stopwatch does. (Cue high tire pressure believers here)

Not only does this new Litespeed bike have the ol' Triple Triangle' signature here, but they have some pretty backward geometry going on as well. Larger sizes have less than 70mm of bottom bracket drop, a 72° head tube angle, and 50mm of fork offset. Wow! Talk about a 2015 gravel bike design, this is it in spades. 

But it will sell and some folks will think it is the bee's knees. Ride on then.....

British Gravel Ride Book:

I know that this has been out a while now, but I just came across it on social media of late and thought I'd get a few opinions from my U.K. readers on what they thought about this. 

So, what does the "greatest gravel rides in the U.K." even mean? How do you contextualize this thought?  Well, for me it starts out by knowing that the U.K. is 1.7 times larger than Iowa. Okay, we have about 70,000 miles of gravel and dirt roads here. According to what I can find on Google, the UK has approximately 33.528+ miles of unpaved roads. I'm not sure that is close, but that's still a LOT of unpaved road ways. To distill that down to "great gravel rides" in one book? I don't think that's an easy task. But you folks in the U.K. know better than I.

I think it would be fun to go find out though! I'll have to see to it before I get to aged to pedal! 

That's a wrap for this week! October starts this weekend! Wow! better get out and ride before Winter comes!

Friday News And Views

 The Ships Are Coming In:

I have mentioned before in this space that when the inventory hit the warehouses that we'd go from zero to overstocked in a big hurry. Well, it has started already. 

I have seen several sales promotions recently within the last two weeks, and I bet there will be many more on the heels of this starting now. (Ditto for other segments in the economy)

The image here is all taken from promotions I have seen online. 15% - 30% off is not uncommon to see, and I suspect that deals will be available throughout the Winter as bicycle season wanes in this hemisphere. The big question is, "Will there be any takers?" Inflation is eating up discretionary income at an alarming pace. Given that utilities and necessities to make it through Winter will likely be somewhat of a burden on many, I would be surprised if sales were anything but tepid. 

But I could be proven wrong there. Time will tell all.......

Apologies for making you read upside down!

New WTB Vulpine 700 X 40mm Tires;

 I guess no one noticed that the tire I used to demonstrate the tubeless mounting techniques I posted earlier this week was a new WTB Vulpine 700 X 40mm tire*. Well, I guess I slipped that one by y'all right out in the open! 

Anyway, yeah..... New tire day again and I always am excited to see how tires will turn out once they are mounted. The anticipation of the process, the outcome once I am done, and then that first ride. Good stuff! 

But I have to say that I was a bit deflated, (sorry for that pun!), by the tire as it was evident to me at the onset that the casing didn't look like a 40mm casing. It's funny when your mind and eyes can hone in on details after you've done something so many times. I just knew this tire would be a bit narrow, and once I had it on, (at 40psi, by the way), I was saddened to find that my suspicions were correct. This wasn't a 40mm tire. 

Now with a few days under the tires and a couple of short rides, one tire measures just shy of 40mm and the other just shy of 39mm. Ehhhh!  Yeah, close, but not quite. Quibbling over a millimeter? Yes. And what is more, the promise was 40mm. And maybe these will get there. We'll see. 

At least they are fast, supple, and smooth. I liked the 36mm Vulpines, and these should be a bit better. Still, I'd love a wider one of these. (*Standard Disclaimer)   

The new Litespeed Ultimate G2 frame Image courtesy of Litespeed

Excuse Me- GT Bikes Would Like To Have  A Word With You:

Litespeed made a splash this week with the introduction of a titanium ('natch!) frame which they dubbed the "Ultimate G2". A new platform which they claim is "..a bike that accelerated and climbed with the targeted stiffness found in premium carbon gravel bikes.."

Whoa! Big claim there. So what did they do? Well, Litespeed says that; "It starts with the new visual signature of the Ultimate G2: Interlock Dropped Seatstays." What's that mean? Well, just think of GT Bikes' "Triple Triangle" design and you'll be there. That's really all this is. Also- I am not claiming GT developed the design first. I realize that others did a similar thing as well previous to GT Bikes. That said, it was GT that made hay with this and put the design on the map.

Look familiar? Image courtesy of Litespeed

Comments: So, how does a triple triangle thing make a bike stiffer? It effectively shortens the top tube and seat tube, thereby making those lengths of tubing less flexible than they would have been. 

This should make the rider 'feel' faster because the tubing will be less effective at absorbing vibrations than it would have been without the triple triangle deal, and let's face it- what a rider feels has a lot more to do with 'speed' than the stopwatch does. (Cue high tire pressure believers here)

Not only does this new Litespeed bike have the ol' Triple Triangle' signature here, but they have some pretty backward geometry going on as well. Larger sizes have less than 70mm of bottom bracket drop, a 72° head tube angle, and 50mm of fork offset. Wow! Talk about a 2015 gravel bike design, this is it in spades. 

But it will sell and some folks will think it is the bee's knees. Ride on then.....

British Gravel Ride Book:

I know that this has been out a while now, but I just came across it on social media of late and thought I'd get a few opinions from my U.K. readers on what they thought about this. 

So, what does the "greatest gravel rides in the U.K." even mean? How do you contextualize this thought?  Well, for me it starts out by knowing that the U.K. is 1.7 times larger than Iowa. Okay, we have about 70,000 miles of gravel and dirt roads here. According to what I can find on Google, the UK has approximately 33.528+ miles of unpaved roads. I'm not sure that is close, but that's still a LOT of unpaved road ways. To distill that down to "great gravel rides" in one book? I don't think that's an easy task. But you folks in the U.K. know better than I.

I think it would be fun to go find out though! I'll have to see to it before I get to aged to pedal! 

That's a wrap for this week! October starts this weekend! Wow! better get out and ride before Winter comes!